As Danny Silk likes to say, “All of our faces have this hole. Above the hole is this thing called a nose. It’s only one inch away.

“So why is it that we’re always the LAST person to know when we’ve got bad breath???”

Ah, isn’t that true of so many things? Especially business?

We all need someone who can tell us when we’ve got bad breath.

There is nothing so hard as diagnosing the problems in your own business. You can see the problems in other peoples’ business SO CLEARLY, yet discerning your own is nearly impossible.

It always comes down to the questions you ask yourself.

A problem clearly defined is 95% solved. What re-definition of the problem will make it e-a-s-y to solve?

What shift in a key relationship would net you 30% more money – in one hour?

And as Richard Koch asks in his brilliant book “The 80/20 Manager,” what ONE thing could you do today that would happily justify you taking the rest of the day off?

Last year a CEO flew to Chicago from Australia for his first Private Client Group meeting with me. In addition to our monthly calls or Skype sessions, Private Client members get a full day from 9-5, confidential, one on one.

He showed up at about 9:30.

We explored his issues for a couple of hours. Then at 11:30 I diagrammed how he could solve a vexing problem that had been plaguing him for years.

He jumped up and exclaimed, “I just paid for my whole trip right here, right now! Not just MY trip, but my employee’s too, and all our travel over the last 2 weeks, which probably cost us $40,000.

“It’s going to be a short afternoon,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to get much done after lunch.”

We enjoyed an extended lunch at a Mexican restaurant and he left at about 2:45.

No, this is not how most people would use a $30,000 consultation.

However – for a guy who runs a $30 million company that’s about to go public – he totally got his money’s worth. He doesn’t feel the need to grind every cent of value out of the day. He’d prefer to build the relationship.

This is how wealthy people think. “What ONE nugget of gold makes my entire effort worthwhile? And then everything else is gravy.” 80/20 strategy.

I repeat:

What ONE thing could you do today that would happily justify you taking the rest of TODAY off?

Perry Marshall

About the Author

Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.

He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.